[amc22uob]

Hello,


I was hoping to tap into some collective knowledge for help with this one as I was unable to find an answer through my own research…



The idea is to strike a match and touch it to a stone wall where a substance has been painted on…. This should substance should  then catch fire and burst into a legible message of flames….


The substance should be flammable, viscous and sticky so it doesn’t run down the wall and upset the lettering/shapes, preferably not to volatile so this message can be painted on the wall at least a few hours before use and not have all evaporated away, finally have a  reasonable burn time, (eg similar to gasoline) so the lettering can be read for a few seconds or more before it fizzles out……

This should also hopefully be the kind of thing you can make at home or with limited equipment, I have a fair amount of lab experience, but this will predominantly be done at home.


Any ideas?

I was originally thinking along the lines of homemade napalms but wanted to see whether anyone had any better ideas…..


Thanks all


Alex

[Arkcon]

Never heard of something like that.  Now I had heard of writing on a piece of stiff cardboard with a cotton ball soaked in potassium nitrate solution.  That will dry to a practically colorless line, that when lit, will burn the words into the paper, and burn out, leaving a hole in the shape of the cursive letters you wrote.  Some trial and error will be needed to get the effect just right.  What you've described is, more appropriately, pyrotechnic lance work -- tubes of burning pyrotechnic composition made to shoot sparks and colored fire in the shape of letters and curves, to build a picture.  The freeform factor you seem to need is likely going to make it too difficult to arrange.

[curiouscat]

Look up fuse materials. One of the fuseing materials suspended in paint might work.

[Redchigh]

Only thing that comes to mind is a mixture of saltpeter and sugar, mixed into melted wax. Hard to light, though.

[Borek]

He shows an effect similar to what you want somewhere at the beginning (not that I remember exactly when).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmtK2BgmGCw